Tool handle



April 7, 1925.

I. S. KEMP TOOL HANDLE Filed May 10, 1923 ITED STATES PATENT ,0FFI1CE,

IRVING S. KEMR OF EVANSVILLE, INDIANA;

TOOL HANDLE.

Application filed May 10, 1923. Serial No. 638,065.

T 0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRVING, S. KEMP, a citizen of the United States, residing at Evansville, Vande'rburg County, Indiana, have invented certain new-and useful Improvements in'Tool Handl'eaofwhich the following is a specification.

The present improvements relate to the handles of such tools as hammers, hatchets, etc, and its object is toprovide a handle according to which an unusually firm and comfortable grip may be had by the operators hand, whereby the control of the instrument and its satisfactory use are improved;

form apart of this specification, Figure 1 shoWs-the'gripendof such a handle as itis normally gripped" by the operatore hand; Fig. 2 is anenlarge'd side view of the grip end of the handle; Fig 3 is an end view of the handle and Fig. at is a cross sectional v1eW as]on the line H of Flg. 2. Since these improvements relate only to 95 the grip portion of such handles, only that portionisdllustrated. I This grip portion is sufficiently long to accommodate comfortably the hand of the operator. The gene'ral shape of the handle in cross View is approximately elliptical but such elliptical contour is modified by the provision of various straight lines, as viewed in cross section, which constitute chords of the assumed substantially elliptical shape.

' Having reference to the Way a hammer is ordinarily held for driving a nail vertically downward, the grip portion is provided With an upper rounded or convex surface 10 and an oppositely-disposed or loWer' rounded orconvex surface 11, these surfaces beingconvezr outwardly, or-away from the longitudinal axis of the handle and are at the ends of the long diameter of the assumed ellipse. These upper and lower rounded surfaces 10 and ll are shoWnas' extending from end to end ofthegrip portion.

EXtBIlCllHg fromfthe upper rounded surface lO'is a pair of substantially plane or flat surfaces 12 and 13, and extending from thelower rounded surface 11 is a pair of substantially plane or fiat-surfaces 14 and 15. As viewed incross'flsection, as inFigsZ 3 and a, these'flat surfaces 12,13, 14 and 15 are defined by lines having thesame ref erence character-s respectively and' which di verge outwardly from here they merge into the rounded surfaces respectively; Looking atFig. 3 or Fig. 4, Whiclirepre sent cross sectional construction at substan tially all placesfrom end to end of the grip portion, the periphery or contour of this grip portion isdefined by a cui'ved;line 10 and a pair of straight lines 12' and 13 merge ingthereinto and extendingdivergingly therefrom, a curved line 1 1 and apair of straight lines 14 and 15" merging thereinto and extending divergingly therefrom; the lines 12 and 142 being so directed, that they. will intersect each'other at-awide angle if produced, and the same being true with respect to the lines 13 and 15. Instead of having these lines meet each other. I preferably provide a short line 17' on one side and 18 on theother, Which-are indicated-in Figs. 1 and 2 as narrow substantially plane or flat surfaces extending substantiallyfrom end to end of the grip portion, and-- Which construction has the .up'roperty of softening the corners, by providing more obtuse angles at the middle sides of the grip portion as a Whole while yet-maintain'- ing corners there-to improve the hand-hold upon the device.

In Figs. 3 and 1* the surrounding dotted lines 20 show how slightly the handle de-' parts in cross View from a truly elliptical figure; The circles 21 shown partly by dot-. ted lines are formedby continuing the respective arcs of the upper and lower curved surfaces 10 andllr The dotted lines a and F) in these figures are drawn from the respective centers of the circles 21 and 'de'fine 3 and 4 also that the proportions of the handle and the radius of the circles 21 are such that the circles deeply overlie or intersect each other, the overla shown by Fig. 4 extending substantially from center to circumference of the circles respectively. In Fig. 3 the overlap is not quite as great owing to the fact that the handle has a flaring end somewhat altering the proportions. This flaring end improves the operators hold or grasp upon the grip end of the handle.

Fig. 1 indicates the advantages from the form of grip portion herein shown and described. It will be noted that the upper convex surface 10 comes at a place where various parts of the hand and thumb overlie the handle, and that the lower rounded or convex surface 11 is surrounded by the fingers. In order to hold the handle firmly quite a considerable degree of pressure must be exerted by the hand, which can be done according to these improvements without annoying or hurting the palm or fingers by sharp edges. The result in this respect is quite notable over that of what is known as the octagon grip in which the contour as.

viewed in cross section is that of an oblong octagon and the upper and lower portions engaged by'the hand have well-defined and sharp edges and the hand grip upon the octagon structure is far fro-m being comfortable, nor does it fit into the hand nearly as well as does the present device. 7

It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the thumb naturally rests upon the fiat surface 13. Just across and back of the thumbas it is illustrated the third jointsection of the forefinger naturally rests against the flat surface 12. It will be noted further that the first joints of the fingers come to rest upon another flat surface 15, and the finger tips come to this location easily and comfortably without passing over any abrupt elevation since the lower surface 11 merges softly into the surface 15. On the reverse side of the handle illustrated in Fig. l the palm and other inside portions of the hand contact the straight sides there present with an unusually comfortable feel. The axis of the operators arm and wrist is at a materially great angle wlth respect to the axis of the tool handle as the handle is ordinarily held in use, and in that position of the hand upon the handle the provision of flat surfaces as shown causes the handle to fit into the hand at substantially all points of contact without throwing portions of the hand out of their natural position for a good grip.

The result of the construction is both an unusually comfortable feel of the hand upon the handle and an unusually firm and strong grip, and one which is substantially the same at all times of use, and therefore v the proper relationship between the position of the hand and the operating end of the tool can better be acquired and controlled.

Such tools as hammers and hatchets are reversed in the hand from time to time so that what is at one time the upper surface becomes at another time the lower. Since the upper and lower halves of the grip portion are similarly formed the same results are had either way the handle is held.

I contemplate as being included in these improvements such modifications of and departures from what is specifically illustrated and described as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A. handle for hammers, hatchets and the like comprising a grip portion sufficiently long to accommodate the operators hand and being substantially elliptical in general outline in cross view, and having oppositely disposed upper and lower convex surfaces defined in cross View substantially by arcs, such arcs being so positioned that circles produced therefrom respectively intersect each other, said convex surfaces being of materially great length toprovide a relatively wide rounded surface at the top and also at the bot-tom of the handle, there being an upper pair and a lower pair of substantially fiat sides on said grip portion, the upper and lower sides merging into said upper and lower convex surfaces respec tively, the upper sides diverging from each other and the lower sides diverging from each other.

2. A handle for hammers, hatchets and the like comprising a grip portionsufl'icient- 1y long to accommodate the operators hand and being substantially elliptical in general outline 1n cross view, and having oppositely disposed upper and lower convex surfaces 7 defined in cross view substantially by arcs, such arcs being so positioned that circles produced therefrom respectively intersect each other, said convex surfaces being of materially great length to provide a relatlvely wide rounded surface at the top and also at the bottom of the handle, there being an upper pair and a lower pair of substantially flat sides on said grip portion, the upper and lower sides merging into the upper and lower convex surface respectively, the upper sides diverging from each other and the lower sides diverging from each other, there being a relatively narrow substantially flat surface at opposite sides of the grip portion approximately midway between the top and bottom of the grip portion in cross sectional view.

8. A handle for hammers, hatchets and the like comprising a grip portion sufficiently long to accommodate the operators hand and being substantially elliptical in general outline in cross view, and having oppositely disposed upper and lower convex surfaces substantially defined in cross view by arcs, such arcs being so positioned that circles produced therefrom respectively intersect each other, said convex surfaces being approximately ninety degrees in length as measured on the arc of such circles, there being an upper pair and a lower pair of substantially fiat sides on said grip portion,

the upper and lower sides merging into the upper and lower convex surface respectively, the upper sides diverging from each other and the lowersides diverging from each other, there being a relatively narrow surface at each side of the grip portion intermediate adjacent ones of said substantially flat surfaces. 7

IRVING S. KEMP. 

